Who am I?

I wrote a poem for theraputic purposes. I felt I was not confident and wrote a poem that was absolutely, unlike my character. It was extemely difficult to put on paper. I even went to three spoken word/poetry cafe's to recit it; which brought my confidence to a whole different level and helped me to be more assertive. I suggest you try writing something about youreslf as though it is your alter ego. Then practice or even memorize it. Watch yourself change.

"Who am I? I am me in the face of adversity.
I am young. I am woman. I am mankind.
I am determined at any risk, I must thrive.

Who am I? I am dreams. A manifested prayer.
I am a believer, in the mist of opposition,
I will step forward, look challenge in the eye,
with unwavering surprise, I will succeed.
I am strong. I am intellegent.
I am who you say I cannot be for I love me.

Who am I? I am mortal. I am fragile and will compensate
for this shelter of clay. I am a series of models before me
with stengths and flaws and features of pride,
integrity and tradition. In this battle I will win,
with persuasive sincerity and a self-image of accomplishment.

Who am I? I am an extention of humanity;
a division of the sum of two's. I am bold.
I am caring. I am persistant. I am
the fragrance of success."


Who am I? by Petrina Fergus-Yemane, Art in its Written Form, ISBN: I-4196-1716-8

Ambition

I spoke to someone today who I haven't spoke to in a very long time. I was happy to hear they were doing well. She moved due to her ambition to do something her friends thought was basically impossible. Even I thought in the back of my head. That is not possible. Even after what I accomplished for this site, I doubted someone else's dream could be done. She has made great sacrifices for her dreams to be accomplished and it drives her to accomplish it despite what anyone thinks.

Ambition means to seek after earnestly, to aspire, to desire some sort of achievement. Synonyms are aspiration, aim, goal, yearning, longing, drive or force (dictionary.com). The word that stands out for me is "drive". One of the definitions for drive is "a vigorous onward course". What vigorous onward course are you moving towards? What is hidden or dug deep within, that you desire to bring to fruitation? What hinders you from carrying it out? Who hinders you from carrying it out? What time frame can you plan in to accomplish this action? How simple or difficult is it for you? How long have you been wanting to do it? How can you get the tools needed for this to happen? What self reflection do you need to have in taking a step towards your goal? I hope these questions have been helpful in getting you started or getting you to complete what you desire to do or finish. Lastly, do you really know what you are capable of?

3rd Pic from our AA Trip

One of the highlights of the trip was going to see pink Flamingos. What an adventure. I couldn't tell you the story without mentioning our fearless tour guild. A young boy who nominated himself. We said no the first time and then were aggressive several times after, demanding that we could find the Flamingos on our own at the riverbed. We were afraid that he would get hurt as he kept jumping to ride in the back of our SUV. He was persistent! We were finally rid of him as we thought and made a wrong turn into the mountains. Heading back we went into a riverbed which it was hard for the SUV to get out of. We stood outside in fear of the fact that this would happen. After getting back in the SUV we again went down a road that was so dilapidated, we tilted as we drove and could have tipped over. Then here comes the persistent young boy who told us we needed him and we did not listen. He jumped on and he was hired. Thank God because we had no idea of the importance of his help. Once he got us there, we had to park a good distance because the SUV could sink in the sand, there were leaches in the water so you could not swim, and some other tid bit. The picture does not due justice to the actual scenery. It took my breath away. We tipped our young tour guide and I left learning from him the meaning of persistence that I had never seen in all my life. We were very impressed with him even though in the beginning we were so set that we did not need him. Sometimes life introduces people to you in this light and then later you are so grateful for them.

2nd Set of Pics from AA Trip

Here are some more pictures from our wonderful trip. I can't wait to go back.




The pictures on the right and left were taken at Sodere. Melaku and Iyasu are feeding the many monkeys that roam around naturally. The picture on your right is Melaku creating drives and naming them. This one is called "Free". The one in the middle is priceless as this is Musa and myself at Langano. Musa has been working there for 50 years. He has a lot of wisdom and history of the country. He also gave us a fascinating tour of old ruins.

This is me with the organization for women and children in the after school program. The picture on the right is a Sponsorship Wall for children, to support them in donations for books, clothes and education. Below is Melaku and Iyasu donating their toys. Mike and the boys went to the historic museum at Addis Ababa University; the former Emperor's Palace of Haile Salessie.

1st Set of Pics from AATrip

We are back to our schedule but still refreshed from our trip. Our tans are gone, I finally finished the old pile of work that was on my desk. I am pretty caught up now. I was able to spend some time with my friends, the children are doing well in school. We actually came back just when they have to take exams for specialized schools and summer programs. Mike downloaded the pictures, so I wanted to include a few here.

The picture to the left is a shot of a lion we took in a Addis Ababa zoo. This next picture is of the funniest monkey ever who was the only one to be out of his home. He was such a ham when it came to taking pictures. The next picture is of me and my niece catching "dinner", the picture of us and the sheep. Then Iyasu joins the local children in sheep riding; poor sheep.

Our stay at Langano was nice as well. I took a picture of white horses just roaming the resort grounds. I'll send more pics later.

Our trip to Ethiopia was fantastic. We all had a great time. We got to see a lot of things around Addis Ababa and got to visit a few resorts. I really wanted to go up north to visit Lalibela but there wasn't enough time. We know what to do on our next visit, we have to hit the ground running. It took us almost a week to start getting around. There were a few family and friends that I would've loved to spend some time with but didn't get to. I'm hoping to get some information and maybe some pictures from the two organization we donated the money to. I would like to send that out to the people who donated.
I am totally stunned by what happened in Haiti. I have friends and co-workers who are affected by the earthquake. One of my co-workers who has lost a number of family and friends has set-up a disaster mgmt website for missing persons (http://www.zandolit.com/) to try and help. It is going to change Haiti forever. Some people say the reason Haiti is affected so much by the earthquake is because it's a poor country. Yes there definite truth in that but I don't know how any small island can cope with such utter devastation with or without good infrastructure. Such a disaster will render inoperative the best infrastructures on the planet. If NYC got hit with a major Tsunami, which the city isn't prepared for or has never experienced, there will be a major loss of life and will take the city years to recover. My prayers and hope are with the people of Haiti.

Mike

Hope Worldwide in Haiti

Hope worldwide is the organization that has sent and taught us about helping the poor. They have been our inspiration for our trip to Ethiopia. I received an email last week that was simply amazing. It was an update on their involvement in Haiti. Turns out that our fearless leader, Mark Ottenweller, a medical Doctor from the US, who lived in Africa for the last 20 years, met with a powerful Brooklyn minister who will serve as Marks translator, went to meet another powerful minister in Dominican Republic named Angel Martinez. Angel and I used to attend the same college and I tell you he really is one of the nicest persons you ever want to meet. With the Financial help of the San Fransisco and DR Church, they were able to fly to DR and drive across the boarder with supplies and medicine donated to Hope worldwide. The Church in Haiti and their friends and family were so happy to see them that they began to cry aloud in gratitude. They cried louder when Mark attended to their wounds and started giving out the supplies. I was so happy to have gotten this email. I was so touched and inspired by their love and humanity. Here is a new song created for Hope worldwide by Brian Craig. You can also listen to the song on Hope worldwide's website as well.